FEMA says more than half of the more than 140,000 flood insurance claims filed in all the states hit by Sandy have been settled, with more than $3.7 billion paid out.

Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday that the national flood insurance program has "stunk." He complained payouts have been far too slow in coming.

Christie said only 30 percent of claims in New Jersey have been settled more than three months after the disaster.

But FEMA says the latest data show just over 50 percent of all flood claims in New Jersey have been closed.

FEMA says it has reduced paperwork and allowed for partial and advance payments to speed up assistance.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday the National Flood Insurance Program's handling of claims in New Jersey "has stunk," complaining that the program has been far too slow to resolve claims from Superstorm Sandy, with 70 percent of cases unresolved three months after the disaster.

The governor said excessive paperwork, inadequate staffing, cumbersome audits and the threat of financial penalties to carriers and adjusters is interfering with the timely issuance of payments, prolonging the suffering of the thousands of New Jersey residents hurt by Sandy.

"Our local insurance companies have been doing a great job of settling and moving these claims very quickly," Christie said. "The national flood insurance plan has stunk."

"I've been as patient as I'm going to be," the governor added. "They need to get more people into New Jersey, they need to get to work, they need to get to processing these things. People need to know how much money they're going to have."

Sandy damaged or destroyed about 346,000 housing units in New Jersey, resulting in estimated damage and future storm mitigation costs of $37 billion.

The state and charities are waiting for the federal settlements so they can determine how much to award in grants to help people rebuild, the Republican governor said during a briefing in the heavily damaged Jersey Shore community of Union Beach.

Christie said he is asking New Jersey's congressional delegation to pressure the Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve the performance of the flood insurance program. A FEMA spokesman said he had no immediate comment.

The governor complained that only about 30 percent of flood claims have been settled, or closed, compared with 85 percent of homeowners' claims. An estimated 430,000 other insurance claims have been filed by residents and businesses.

He said "it is imperative that insurance claims be brought to final resolution so that residents can make critical decisions on if and how to rebuild."

While he was expressing frustration with the pace of claims settlements, Christie at the same time urged residents to stay patient.

"This is an unprecedented set of circumstances in the state of New Jersey, so we have to have patience with one another," he said. "I'd like to come here or to any of the other communities that have been affected and wave a magic wand, but I can't. It's going to take time, and it's going to take effort."